Bing was created by Microsoft. It was built in-house by the company's Online Services Division, whose search work was led by Satya Nadella (now Microsoft's CEO) and Qi Lu, and it was announced by then-CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28, 2009.
The people behind Bing
- Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014, backed the project and unveiled Bing at the All Things Digital conference.
- Satya Nadella led research and development for Microsoft's online services, including search and advertising, in the years around Bing's launch.
- Qi Lu, a former Yahoo executive, joined Microsoft in early 2009 as president of the Online Services Division and led Bing through its early years.
Thousands of engineers worked on it, building on the index and technology Microsoft had developed for MSN Search and Live Search.
Where Bing came from
Bing wasn't a start-up that Microsoft bought: it was the fourth name for Microsoft's own search engine, after MSN Search (1998), Windows Live Search (2006) and Live Search (2007). Microsoft did buy some smaller companies whose technology helped, such as Powerset (natural-language search) and Farecast (airfare prediction), both in 2008. The full story is in when Bing was created.
Why the name “Bing”?
The project's internal code name was Kumo. For the public name, Microsoft wanted something short, easy to spell and pronounce in many languages, and memorable. Microsoft described it as the sound of finding something. The popular backronym “Because It's Not Google” is a joke, not the official meaning.
Who runs Bing today?
Bing is part of Microsoft's AI and consumer division, alongside Copilot, Edge and MSN. It powers Microsoft's own products and supplies results to partners such as Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. See is DuckDuckGo based on Bing?.
How popular is it?
Bing is the world's second-largest search engine, with about 4.5% of searches worldwide in August 2026 according to StatCounter, far behind Google at around 91%. Its share is higher on desktop computers, where it's the default in Windows and Edge.
Frequently asked questions
Did Microsoft create Bing from scratch?
Bing was a relaunch of Microsoft's existing search engine with a new name, design and many new features, built on years of in-house work.
Does Bill Gates own Bing?
No. Bing belongs to Microsoft, a public company. Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft but stepped down from day-to-day roles long before Bing launched.